Will be getting a car loan with my folks as the primary account holder. Can the car be titled to me?

I am currently saving, and waiting until I have about $10,000 to put down on a car, and then I will be make a fairly large purchase on a car (around $28,000 Subaru WRX).

I am 23 years old now, but even through college I had a decent job. I racked up some debt, as most college students do (not much, only about $3,000 or so), and towards the end of school, had an unpaid internship that took up a lot of my time and money and made it very hard to pay my bills, even with only a small amount of debt. I was missing payments and pretty much screwed my credit down to a 600 or below. It’s been hard to get it back up, even over a year or two with a low credit-to-debt ratio and not missing payments anymore.

Moral of the story is, my parents are going to have to help me out getting the loan. They have agreed to this, and both have ridiculous credit scores nearing 800 or so. They will most likely have to be the primary on the loan account, whether it’s from the dealership or the bank, but can I be the title holder as a co-signer on the loan, and not the primary?

I am asking for insurance purposes and really because I would prefer to finally have a car that is in MY name. It would obviously be cheaper for the car to be under my dad’s insurance, but I’m pretty sure that is insurance fraud, and I really like be a free person, so I’d prefer not to go that route.

It would be cool if someone that has experience either buying a car with their parents as a primary loan holder, or a parent who has done this for their child, could respond.

Thanks guys and gals!

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One Response to “Will be getting a car loan with my folks as the primary account holder. Can the car be titled to me?”

As a former banker, the title of the car will be assigned to the loan account holder(s) because legally, he/she/they are responsible for payments. I’ve never heard of any case where the car title differs from the loan account holder(s). Throughout my career in the bank, I’ve come across quite a number of parents who did the same for their children and the car title was always assigned to the loan account holder’s name.

You do have a choice of applying for a joint loan with one of your parents unless if you are concerned about what your credit score might be.

Once the loan has been paid off, the title could be changed to your name from your parents of course.

As for insurance, there are numerous options where the insurance would cover all drivers of the car however at a slightly higher price like you’ve mentioned.